Peaks and Valleys

I attended a funeral yesterday for an old friend.  He was 93 and had been ready to go home for a long time.  He's home today.  

As I came into the lobby of the church I saw several other friends I haven't seen in a while.  We began to talk about the struggles of life, the peaks and valleys of being human.  One of my friends said, "I always grow best in the valleys."  To which I replied, "I bet you don't pray for valleys though!"  He smiled and admitted he didn't.

We all have the ups and downs of life, the joys and sorrows of finding and losing, hopes and fears.  But I think my friend was right that our times of growth are when we are forced to trust God, when we are afraid, when all hope seems lost...it's in those times when we grow the most.  It's those times of wilderness when we have to trust God or else.  

On the mountains all is good. We feel the breeze, see the sun and enjoy the bounty of what God has given.  Why is it that we don't seem to trust God as much in the good days as we must in the bad?  I think it's because there are moments of delusion when we think we have everything taken care of.  We forget that every moment is a moment of total trust in God...whether mountain top or dark valley of despair.

The bible is filled with admonitions that are based on one essential truth.  Here are a few of the things we are told from both old and new testament, "Don't fret", "don't worry", "don't be anxious", "don't be afraid", and many more.  I know, if you've read the bible, you've seen some of these simple admonitions.

They are all based on this one truth- God is sovereign!  That means he's in total control of EVERYTHING and fully able to accomplish his plans for you.  He's ALWAYS in control.  And, he's all powerful.  The reasons we are given these admonitions always comes back to one basic truth.  You have an awesome big God who is taking care of everything.  Whether peak or valley God is with you, caring for you, watching over you.

Today was a valley day for me.  It came in a moment, much like a roller coaster.  One minute I'm at the top, enjoying the sun and the beautiful day and then my stomach drops as I plummet towards the valley.  Fear and panic invade my emotions and my thoughts race to thoughts of despair and hopelessness.  I know you have been on that ride as well.  As I plummet to the valley I have to stop and remind myself of who is in control of my life.  It doesn't stop the emotions of the moment, but in just a bit I remember God.

As I talked to God about all of this today I admitted I would have been worse than any of his people coming out of Egypt!  He would have struck me dead on the first day, but I'm so thankful that his grace and kindness helps me, as weak as I am, through the descents  into the valley...where, like my friend, I always grow the most.

Back to Kenya!

Off to Kenya again!  We leave in a week.  Much to do before we leave, much to do here.  All this preparation is the reason I haven't been here for a bit, but I will try to post a few thoughts later today.  I would appreciate your prayers as we travel and spend a week with 50 amazing pastors.  It will be wonderful and exhausting!  

Build it bigger!

It's early morning.....4am to be exact.  I can't sleep, so I thought I would take a moment and update you on some of my thoughts.  I have been busy getting ready for an Africa trip and trying to take care of other issues as well, so I apologize for not being here as often as I would like.  I will try to post more often.  It does seem that a busy life for me makes it harder to get a few moments of silence and thoughtfulness....in other words my mind is just not as fertile when I'm too busy.  But here are some thoughts I'm working on...let me know if you want to know more about this.

In the last few days I've been thinking about and studying the "New Jerusalem", that city made by God.  The descriptions of it in Revelation 21 are fascinating.  In the picture painted is, as I see it, amazing insight into the redemptive work of Christ.  God loves to paint picturs with what he makes and this city is one of those wonderful pictures.  I would like to take about a week and talk about this new city, this place where the saints will live, if you are interested.  

Let me know if you want to know more.  I have a lot of thoughts on this I'd like to share.  You might ask, what does the title have to do wtih this?  In John 14 Jesus said, "I go to prepare a place for you..." and this city in Revelation 21 is that place.  There has never been a construct like it in time or history.  In just a few verses God describes the biggest building project of all creation...built as a home for the bride of Christ.  I think it will take about a week to talk about how amazing it is.  Shall I develop this and write about it here?  Are you interested?  Let me know.

Monday's cartoon

What an amazing time in history we live in!  There is more entertainment, more information than any generation before us has ever had and yet most people you meet will admit they are bored.  How can that be? 

How can a culture with so much entertainment, so much information, so much to discover be bored?  In the admission of boredom is the reality that all of this entertainment, all of this information does not satisfy.  Our quest for happiness is still unresolved.  Our desire for peace is still unmet.  

What a great time this is!  All around us is a culture bored with itself looking for happiness, looking for something they don't have.  For the Christian there couldn't be a more exciting day!  How will we use it?

The main thing

All of us have one thing that is the driving force of our lives, our "statement of purpose" as some would describe it.  If I were to ask you could probably tell me your "main thing" or "one thing" that is the driving purpose and focus of your life and choices.

Every faith has one.  In Islam the main thing is "There is no God but Allah and Mohammad is his prophet".  That is their statement of faith, their core value and it drives everything about their faith.  They believe it's their task to bring everyone to that worldview.

Sadly I think the Christian faith is weak in this area.  We don't really have that one thing that gives focus and clarity to our faith.  This week, as I prepared for this morning, one commentator described a passage I am working on as "the main thing" of the Christian faith.  As I studied and prepared I think I agree.  It really does give clarity to what is important for us as Christians.  Here it is,

^{1 John 5:11} And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.¹² Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.

The great revelation and message of the Christian faith is eternal life in Jesus Christ.  It is our main thing.  These verses say so much more as you read them.  They declare that to have life you have to have Jesus Christ as well....because he IS life.  If you don't trust him, have  him, know him then you don't have life, can't have life.  That message is profound, dogmatic and clear.  Want eternal life?  Then trust Jesus Christ....he IS eternal life.  You can't have "it" without him, they are the same.

That clarifies why living a good life just isn't enough.  If you live the very best life of all times, if you are the most giving, caring, self-sacrificing person of all times and don't have Christ you don't have life.  Your good works are completely different from life and they won't get what you are trying to get because life is attached to having Christ, to trusting him, knowing him.  That clears up so much as you think through it.  We want to get to God through our own efforts, but there is no pathway for that.  Life, eternal life, is connected to trusting Jesus Christ, if you have Jesus you have life.  If you don't have him you don't have life, you can't have life....because he IS life.

That is our main thing.

Saturday's cartoon

This is a wedding I can't wait to attend!

Losing Jesus

There is a fascinating story in the gospel of Luke that gave me pause. As I read the passage I thought, "they lost Jesus!"  Here's the story of the first people to lose Jesus,

^{Luke 2:41} Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Passover festival. ⁴² When Jesus was twelve years old, they attended the festival as usual. ⁴³ After the celebration was over, they started home to Nazareth, but Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents didn’t miss him at first, ⁴⁴ because they assumed he was among the other travelers. But when he didn’t show up that evening, they started looking for him among their relatives and friends.

⁴⁵ When they couldn’t find him, they went back to Jerusalem to search for him there. ⁴⁶ Three days later they finally discovered him in the Temple, sitting among the religious teachers, listening to them and asking questions. ⁴⁷ All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.

⁴⁸ His parents didn’t know what to think. “Son,” his mother said to him, “why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been frantic, searching for you everywhere.”

⁴⁹ “But why did you need to search?” he asked. “Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?” 

They lost Jesus!  

In the busyness of life, as they traveled home, they didn't even notice that they had lost Jesus. They assumed he was with them.  When they finally discovered he wasn't they retraced their steps to find him.  I can't imagine their thoughts as they frantically searched. THEY LOST JESUS!  

He was the Messiah promised.

He was the King of the Jews. 

He was the hope of Israel.  

God had entrusted him to them. How could this happen?  Where did we last see him?  Where did we leave him? 

How much of our lives can we live without noticing Jesus?  How often we travel for days and suddenly realize, hey...where's Jesus? Where was the last place we saw him, met with him?  It seems that Mary and Joseph were not the only ones to lose Jesus...we do it all the time.  Life gets busy, stuff to do, and suddenly we turn to discover we have lost Jesus, left him somewhere as we have been busy about living life.

He doesn't chase us, he waits....waits at the last place we met....waits for us to return to that place of encounter with him.  We may be frantic about our search for him, but he waits.  He knows where we are and he waits for us to return to him.

How could they lose Jesus? But they did....and so do we!  In the crazy lives we live we leave him somewhere behind.  We don't even notice he's not with us and then suddenly think, "Where's Jesus?  What happened? Where did we last meet?" 

When that happens in your life go back to the last place you met him.  He's waiting for you.  He's waiting to fellowship with you.  He will wait.  He waits for us to stop, return to him and walk with him in God's presence on his terms.  It might surprise you to realize you've lost him, but it happens to all of us.  Return to him.  He's waiting.*

*(Caveat: I know, according to God's word, that he will never leave us or forsake us.  That truth has not escaped me.  The word picture I'm using in this piece is meant to connect the experience of Mary and Joseph with our lives as believers and how busy we can be.  Thanks for catching the big idea of the post and not dwelling on the theological nuance of his presence in the believer's life.)

Monday's cartoon

The Optimist!

He is not here

“You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here." -angel 

It's Easter morning.  The most glorious day in Christianity.  The day we remember and celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.  It is the defining event of the Christian faith.  If it's true then Jesus is God. On this event in time and history hangs the validity of the Christian faith.

One pastor wrote, 

"The resurrection is not merely important to the historic Christian faith; without it, there would be no Christianity.  It is the singular doctrine that elevates Christianity above all other world religions." –Adrian Rogers

Another man, a lawyer and skeptic who tried to disprove Christianity, said,

"The bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the crowning proof of Christianity. If the resurrection did not take place, then Christianity is a false religion. If it did take place, then Christ is God and the Christian faith is absolute truth." -Henry Morris

In a world looking for God there is one stop on the quest that any serious person must make- the empty tomb.

He is risen!

HE IS RISEN!

"When I first began to study the historicity of Jesus' resurrection under the direction of Wolfhart Pannenberg at the University of Munich, I, as a Christian, believed in Jesus' resurrection, but I had no idea how really firm the historical foundations of that event are. When you reflect on it, an event so extraordinary as Jesus' resurrection isn't the sort of thing one would expect to have much evidence for. So I was quite surprised to find how well-established the central facts undergirding that event are. It seemed to me that they could be conveniently grouped together as three main facts: (1) the discovery of Jesus' empty tomb, (2) the post-mortem appearances of Jesus to various individuals and groups, and (3) the origin of the earliest disciples' belief that God had raised Jesus. It dawned on me only later that not only are these facts well-established but they are acknowledged by the wide majority of NT critics today who have written on these matters. This majority view can't be written off to bias, as some internet bloggers naively assert, since anyone familiar with NT scholarship knows how sceptical this discipline has been, and those who acknowledge these facts include not just evangelicals but liberal Christians, unbelievers, and Jewish scholars. It is really quite an amazing situation. I can't think of any better explanation of these facts than the one the original disciples gave. HE IS RISEN!" -William Lane Craig

I believe

"I  believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else."— C. S. Lewis

The gift

"For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life."  -John

I read a cute dialogue about Good Friday that captured the heart of the day,

George:  I don't understand why they call this day "good".

Bill: If you were scheduled to die on this day and someone offered to take your place what would you call that?

George: Good!

Bill: Have a nice day......

For me this is a day of mixed feelings.  I'm sad to think back on what Jesus went through on the cross, but I'm glad for the results in my life and my eternity.  I sorrow over the pain I caused him, but celebrate the life it gave me.  It is a day of mixed feelings, but at the heart of it all is a celebration of the greatest gift ever given.  And what's most fascinating is that the giver was God himself!  He gave his best to remedy my worst.  He loved me when I had no interest in him, was actually his enemy.  He reached out as I walked away.  What an amazing love!

It is, without doubt, the greatest gift ever given and today I remember and rejoice!

Joy and dread

It's Wednesday of passion week.  In two days, as we remember it, Jesus went to the cross, all the while knowing what was ahead of him.  The bible said he went gladly "for the joy ahead" but I see in the garden a dread as well, a dread of what he would suffer.

I don't know about you, but knowing what awaited me (if I were Jesus) would have had me looking for a way out and yet he went gladly, with joy and dread.  There was such a love for mankind, for you and me, in his actions that he faced the dread with joy.

I wonder, as he stood before Pilate, silent while being accused, I wonder what he thought.  Did he look ahead to the joy of the victory?  Did he rejoice in God his Father?  What were his thoughts?  Was he thinking of you and me?  I can't imagine, in the silence of his voice, the thoughts of his mind as the events of Thursday and Friday rolled over him.

He was falsely accused and yet fully obedient to the Father's plan.  Nowhere in his life do I ever see fear.  It appears, as he trusted God and obeyed him, he walked boldly into the events of the cross and his death....with dread and joy.  I will never know....I can't imagine the emotions of those days, but I can celebrate the results in my life.  


Thank you, Jesus, for accomplishing my salvation through the cross.  I am so thankful that the dread of the cross did not change your path.  I'm so glad that with joy you looked ahead to the salvation you would accomplish.  Thank you.  I look forward to the day when I can bow in your presence and praise you for your great love.

Paint your days with joy

What's ahead for you today?  

What dread do you awake to?

What faces you that you wish you could simply sleep through?

We each deal with difficulties, struggles, problems in our life that frame our moods, change our attitudes...but imagine that instead of letting events change you, you change them.

Imagine that despite what awaits you in your life, your day, you choose to have joy and celebrate God's care and provision.  In the midst of even your worse days he is LORD.  He is watching over the events of your life, so is there anything that he hasn't allowed for a reason, a purpose, a plan?  Nothing!

So how to respond?  Instead of letting events change you....you change them.  Instead of letting your world dictate your moods...choose joy in spite of the world around you.  Isn't God in the good and the bad alike?  Doesn't he love you and care for you no matter what you face?  Of course!  

Paint your days with joy.  God's in charge!

"Consider it all joy when you encounter various trials."  -James 1

Divine failures (revisited)

I've been thinking about my own life lately. Thinking about whether I would be considered a success or failure in God's work, but the more I think about it the more I realize I'm dwelling on the wrong questions. It's a bad habit in our culture to evaluate everything based on success or failure. God doesn't work that way.

One of God's glorious failures in ministry is a man I deeply respect, Jim Elliot. Jim went to Wheaton College and had as his dream a missionary career to an Indian tribe in South America. He planned, with others, this quest into an unreached people group and then, with several others, went to their village to begin the work.

Before they could make first contact Jim and his team were killed on the river bank where they had landed their plane. I wondered today, as I thought about Jim, did he think as he lay dying on that sand bar, "I failed! I thought God wanted me to reach these people, but I failed! Lord, I'm sorry I failed you."

But the truth is that Jim and his friends were one of God's amazing divine failures. What Jim might have seen as failure as he lay dying God was using to raise up an army of missionaries to reach not only this tribe, but many others. What we might see as utter failure God uses as part of his plan.

I wonder at times if I'm one of God's great divine failures. There are times when I think so, but then I realize that being part of his plan means I don't see the end. I don't see what he's working on. I can't see my part in the play. This whole mission to the world thing looks completely different than we in the western world might think it should. God does things his way that all men might walk in his provision and glorify him.

If, like so many, I feel like a divine failure I should be thrilled. God does some of his best work with those who fail at everything they try. In this upside down kingdom called the kingdom of God I think Jim Elliot would say that a divine failure is the most exciting kind of success......because through it God is glorified!